For Love and Vengeance (19 page)

“Don't
worry, Dad. We've got this,” Jake told their father as he followed his brothers
out of the house.

Chapter 23

Impatience
gnawed at Jason's gut as they sped along the highway. If he was drawn any
tighter, he would snap. His imagination was running on overdrive at what they
would encounter once they reached their destination. The calm his sensei had
taught him and Steve somehow eluded his present state of mind.

Those
sick bastards were still messing with him, and they had gone one step too far.
He was certain of one thing, he was going to fuck them up. He was going to send
a message that nobody could ignore. That message was going to clearly say,
if
you come into my house and mess with what's mine, you accept the consequences!

Josh
cut the engine of the car on a darkened, deserted lane. He didn't look at
either of his brothers, there was no need. They all realized what this meant.
If this was the correct place, there was bound to be trouble, and he was
spoiling for a fight.

As
they stealthily drew closer to the house that was hidden deep in the wooded
area, tree branches overhanging its roof; they were met by a quiet that Jason
immediately found suspicious. Something was very wrong. Instinctively, he knew
that this was the right place, but they were too late. He was unable to fend
off the feeling that death awaited them.

Coming
to a stop, his brothers behind him, he peered deep into the darkness as a
stillness came over him. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on his surroundings,
using every sense other than sight to detect the sounds of the living. There
was nothing, only an unnatural stillness. It was as though even the night
creatures had deserted that place.

“There's
nobody here,” Jason said. He spoke the words aloud not because his brothers
weren't just as aware of the conclusion he had reached, but rather to hold his
frustration at bay.

Moving
with caution, the brothers began to make their way towards the shadowy
dwelling. Jason could still sense nothing around them but he was cautious,
prepared for any eventuality.

What
materialized was not what he had been expecting. Lying to one side of the path
were three misshapen forms, one obviously smaller than the rest. Jason's heart
plummeted, his feet rooted to the ground.
Oh God
, he thought,
please
no...please no
.

Jason
was unable to move forward. Jake stepped up and approached the still figures on
the ground. “It's not her,” he told his twin, who still looked as though he had
prepared himself for a nightmarish conclusion to their search.

“It's
an older woman and man. The man looks like the one who works for you…the one with
the scar,” Jake finished, surprise evident in his voice.

Jason
walked closer to the bodies, squatting down to take a closer look. Jake was
right. It was Drake and beside him lay his wife, the look of shock at her last
moments of life still on her face. Jason felt nothing for them. He didn't even
wonder how they had come to be in this backwoods place. As far as he was
concerned, the place where they had fallen was the place they would remain.

Cutting
his eyes over to the other still form, he saw a heavy set black man with a
bullet hole gaping open in his forehead. He didn't recognize him. But Josh did.
It was Swan, the same man that had been running his mouth and the same man who
was with Aviva in the video footage.

Jason
turned away from the bodies and started towards the house, knowing even as he
approached that it would be empty. But he needed to check, just in case there
was something inside that would give them an inkling as to where Aviva had been
taken.

The
house was in total darkness and the rundown shack was comprised of three rooms,
including a kitchen. He drew back the dusty curtains and from the scant
moonlight shining through the dirty window, he could see that someone had made
an attempt at cleaning the place up. It hadn't worked. There was still the
musty smell one associated with a building that had been uninhabited for a long
period of time. The furnishings were comprised of an old table, four chairs and
a sideboard pushed up against a wall.

Moving
further inside the building, he walked from one room to the next, conscious of
when his brothers joined him but paying them no attention. His mind was set on
finding something, anything that would give him a lead to Aviva’s whereabouts.
He found no clues. The only object of any interest to him was Aviva's purse.
Inside was her wallet, which contained the credit card he had given to her
earlier in the day, and her cell phone.

Holding
tightly to the handbag, Jason retraced his steps. He needed to get out into the
open air. It seemed to him that this broken down place emitted echoes of his
guilt. But for him, none of this would have taken place. But for him, she would
be safe. But for him...it was always came back to him. He always seemed to be
the common denominator when harm came to those he loved.

Rubbing
his hand over his head, Jason's feet dragged as he walked back toward the spot
where they left their vehicle. The pulling feeling he had experienced before
once again lodged in his chest as sweat broke out on his body. He knew he had
to pull himself together but he didn't know how. All he really wanted to do was
to lift his head and howl with pain and frustration.

Standing
beside the car, his brain unable to function, he felt a hand on both his
shoulders. “You don't get to lose faith now, my brother, we still have
options,” Josh spoke from just behind him.

“What
options do we have Josh? Come on, tell me. We don't know where she is and we
don’t know for sure who has her!” Jason said, impatiently shaking off the hand on
his shoulder as he spun around to face his brother. “You're the smart guy, you
tell me what our options are?!”

“The
first thing you need to do is to take it easy,” Jake told his twin. He could
see that Jason was on the edge. In fact, he was surprised he had held it
together so long. “This is not the time to lose focus. We still have work to do
if you really want to get Aviva back alive!” Jake said, hitting hard and low.

“What
did you say?”

“You
heard me. Now pull yourself together!”

“
If
...did
you just say,
if
?”

“Yes,
I did.”

“Ahh,
shit!” Josh mumbled under his breath, taking a step backwards.

In
one motion, Jason dropped Aviva's purse and threw a right hook with such force
it landed Jake on his backside.

“Don't
you talk to me about,
if
...you glass chinned fucker!”

“Next
time, it's your turn,” Jake told Josh as he gave him a hand up off the ground,
a look of sympathy on his face, “and believe me, there will be a next time.
This is Jason we're talking about.”

“Thank
you, Jacob. I needed that,” Jason said as he opened the car door and climbed in,
slamming it shut behind him.

“You're
more than welcome, Jason,” Jake replied, even though his twin couldn't hear
him.

Laughing,
Josh slapped his brother on the back as they both headed for the car. They had
plans to make and a woman to find.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jason's
voice trailed away and all that could be heard was the incessant drone from the
engine of the aircraft they traveled on. By now, his head was supported by the
headrest behind him and his eyes were closed as though reliving the experience
all over again.

Aviva
still had questions. She wanted to know how they managed to be in England when
she made the phone call. She had thought she would have to stay in that little
bed and breakfast for a few days until he could come for her.

Jason
appeared to be so lost in thought that she didn't have the heart to prompt him
further. Looking over at his watchful brothers, the questions in her eyes told
them exactly what was on her mind.

Josh
decided to fill in any gaps, and so his voice floated around them. “When we got
home, I put out some feelers while the others kept looking for anything we may
have overlooked.

“For
me, there was nothing. But these two managed to locate Alexander and
Farnsworth. By all accounts, Alexander was living in London and had been for
years. From the information we found, it appeared that he hadn't left that
country for months. Farnsworth was some kind of recluse and was rarely seen by
anyone. From what we could gather, he was holed up in his mansion in
Pennsylvania, again having gone nowhere.

“Then,
three days ago, we got a break. By then, the bodies had been found and Swan had
been identified. It seemed the police were still attempting to figure out the
Drakes’ identity. Anyway, Swan’s girlfriend started yapping about how pissed
she was that he had gotten himself murdered when he had promised her a trip to
London. Apparently, when he collected his pay-off he was supposed to send her a
ticket.

“We
asked some guys we know in London to check on Alexander. Turns out he was
M.I.A. In fact, he hadn't been seen for about two weeks. It was too much of a
coincidence to ignore, hence our being in London.”

Aviva
knew it hadn't been as easy as he had portrayed, but whatever they had gone
through, she was just grateful they were there when she needed them the most.

“Thank
you both,” Aviva mouthed quietly, a small smile on her face.

“We'd
do it all again in a heartbeat, so that's the last time I want to hear your words
of gratitude about this,” Jake told her, a frown creasing his brow. “I'm
serious, Aviva.”

“Okay,
Jakey darling,” Aviva said with a cheeky smile, sure the name would irritate
him.

“Don't
call me Jakey. I don't like it!”

Bingo.

Jason
looked at his twin silently, ensuring that Jake was left in no doubt that he
didn’t like his tone.

“Ahh,
shit...I'm going to get some sleep!” Jake groaned, getting up from his seat, he
stood looking down at Aviva and shook his head at the smile that still hovered
on her lips. Bending his large frame, he kissed her on the forehead and walked
away.

“Lady,
you got skills but I'm still the master. You need only ask should you need any
further instructions on how to irritate the hell out of the uptight one,” Josh
teased as he rose from his seat, kissed her nose and departed, moving to a seat
somewhere near the front of the aircraft.

Looking
over at Jason, she wiggled her eyebrows and smiled. “Ahh, so that's the way to
do it!”

“Do
what?”

“Get
rid of your brothers.”

“Angel,
the next time you want to have me all to yourself, just let me know. I have no
problem telling them to get lost,” Jason told her, his face leaving her with no
doubt he would do exactly as he said. “So now you have me all to yourself, what
are you going to do about it?” Jason lowered his voice, his words meant only
for her.

Leaning
over, Aviva pressed a kiss against his mouth. She had only meant to give him a
gentle peck but it seemed her lips had a mind of their own. The feel of his
firm mouth wasn't something she was willing to relinquish so soon. God, he
tasted good, faint notes of the whiskey he drank earlier still lingered on his
lips, and he smelled good too. Manly musk and...Jason.

Stroking
her tongue against his mouth, Aviva licked him, slow and easy, holding eye
contact, one stroke to the right and one stroke to the left. The move got his
full attention. Holding onto each side of his face, she rubbed her nose against
his and smiled. Without warning, Aviva dropped her head and nipped his bottom
lip, moving her head back just as his mouth was about to capture hers. Moving
forward again, she brushed a delicate kiss at the side of his mouth,
deliberately avoiding his lips. As he turned his head to make full contact, she
retreated. Jason’s eyes began to change color, darkening and Aviva smiled as
she watched his reaction to her teasing.

Jason’s
hand rose slowly and stroked along the side of Aviva’s face. The look in his
eyes arrested her attention, any playfulness that had been present moments
before now gone. Moving quickly, and before she had time to react, she was
sitting on his lap, a devilish smile lifting the corners of his mouth and
showing off his dimples.

“Now
what?” he whispered, paying her back with a nip to her ear, before running his
tongue down her neck.

Aviva
shivered at the feel of his mouth against her neck. The man was dangerous
because he knew, with that one small move she was done moving away from him.
Pressing her body against his, she turned her head, intent on claiming a kiss.
Aviva closed her eyes and as her lips descended, she felt Jason pull out of her
reach. Startled, her eyes popped open to see him grinning at her. Rubbing his
cheek against hers, she heard him whisper, “Tell me what you want, Angel.”

“Jason!”

“Oh,
no…I want to hear it,” he said, his lips pressed up against her ear, his hot
breath emitting soft puffs against her skin.

“I
want a kiss. I want a deep…hot kiss. I want it so deep it feels like when
you’re inside me, penetrating me, filling me up…”

Jason
didn’t give her time to complete what she was about to say. Changing the
position of his head, he claimed her mouth with deadly accuracy. Thrusting his
tongue forward, he demanded immediate entrance. She didn’t resist, needing him
as much as he needed her.